Birdhouse



April 30, 1963 STONE 3,087,460

BIRDHOUSE Filed 001;- 5, 1960 INVENTOR ALTON H. STONE ATTORNEY United States Patent Office 3,087,460 Patented Apr. 30, 1963 3,087,460 BIRDHOUSE Alton H. Stone, Box 55, Westboro, Mass. Filed 0612.5, 1960, Ser. No. 60,695 2 Claims. (Cl. 119-23) The present invention relates to a new and improved birdhouse or feeding station, including nesting boxes and shelters, all for the aid and comfort of birds, and the principal object of the present invention resides in the provision of devices of the class described which are molded of expanded plastic material so that they are inexpensive to manufacture, light weight, waterproof, insulated against heat and cold, and vermin-proof, besides being non-toxic and particularly easily cleaned and washed, there being no cracks or rot possible because of the material used and the novel construction utilized. At the present time, the expanded material is polystyrene or polyurethane, but in any event the plastic material is of expansible cellular nature which is quickly and easily and inexpensively molded into the shapes desired.

Other objects of the invention include the provision ofa birdhouse, shelter, etc. made generally in two main parts, one of which forms a roof and upper portion of the birdhouse, etc., and theother one of which forms the lower portion, nesting'box, etc., these two main pieces having interconnecting means for easy opening as by a novel drawer slide construction; by a novel pinand-hole construction; or by a novel hinged construction for easy separability and cleaning of the parts.

A further object of the invention resides in the provision of an inexpensive light-weight birdhouse as described above including new and improved means for fastening the same wherever desired as against a tree or wall of a building, etc., thus providing a quick and easy way for the birdhouse to be set up and taken down in addition to the quick and easy manner of cleaning and washing the same.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which FIG. 1 is a view in front elevation showing one form of the birdhouse, part being in section;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view in elevation illustrating a fastening device for locating the birdhouse in position;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 1 showing a modification;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 1 showing a further modification;

FIG. 5 is a view on a reduced scale, looking in the direction of arrow 5 in FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the drawer action of the construction of FIG. 1.

The material of which the birdhouses, shelters, nesting boxes, etc. are made is well known in the art and is generally referred to as an expansible plastic such as polystyrene and polyurethane. Other similar suitable expansible cellular materials may be used without departing from the scope of the invention.

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a birdhouse or nesting box which comprises two main parts, both of which are very inexpensively made in molds by means well known in the art. The two parts are an upper part or roof part 10 and a lower or nesting box part 12. The upper part 10 may be of any shape or size desired, its principal characteristic being that it is molded in one piece of the expansible plastic referred to and has a relatively thick wall section of extremely light weight. It preferably is provided with a front wall 14, a rear wall 16, and the roof parts in the shape of an inverted 2 V or other shape which is here indicated by the reference numeral 18. The forward Wall 14 may be provided with an entrance aperture or opening 20 .and if desired the rear wall also could be provided with a similar aperture. Also the roof may be provided with overhanging eaves as is common in. birdhouses if desired.

The roof portions 18 depend at their side edges well below the plane ofthe bottom edge indicated at 22 of the forward and rear walls, and terminate in relatively enlarged longitudinal portions which are indicated at 24. These longitudinal portions extend from end-to-cnd, i.e., forward to rear of the member 10, and at their inner edges are provided with inwardly directed grooves 26, 26 for a purpose to be described. The formation of these grooves leaves an extending portion 28 28 forming the lower wall of each groove.

The lower portion of. the device 12 is also a molded expanded plastic piece which is inexpensively manufactured and it has a bottom and side walls all of which terminate in a plane at the line 22, but the longitudinal sidewalls which are indicated at 30, 30 are recessed at the outside aspects thereof and these are grooved at 32 to form slide members 34, 34 which slide in the grooves 26, the grooves at' 32 receiving the parts28 described above. It will be seen that the entire lower nesting box part of the device is slidable like a drawer and may be easily opened and closed as is indicated in FIG. 6.

' One of the advantageous aspects of the present invention is that being molded, it can be provided with inside walls as at 36 which are tapered inwardly in a downward direction as clearly shown in FIG. 1 not only providing a better nesting box for the bird but having all of the corners thereof rounded off for quicker and easier cleaning and flushing out. It is pointed out that the ordinary wooden birds nests are not provided with such a construction so that it will be seen that the present birds nest is much more sanitary and verminfree both because it is easy to clean and because vermin will not stay in a house made of expandible plastic. There are no joints or cracks in either part of the novel structure.

At any desirable points, interiorly threaded metal sleeves or collars such as at 38 are secured into the side walls by means of washers or flanges 40 which may have penetrating members 42 or the like securing the same in position. Such devices are well known in the art and may be molded into the wall of the birdhouse in any location or they may be fastened in after the birdhouse is molded. Appropriate locations are on the side walls and on the bottom and the top of the roof portion 10.

In order to fasten the birdhouse in position where desired, it is merely necessary to take a fastener as that at 38 and apply it to the side wall of a house, a tree trunk, post, or the like. Then a right and left-hand screw-threaded fastener which is indicated at 44 in FIG. 2 is properly inserted in such threaded opening and then by inserting the opposite end of the fastener 44 in the device 38 of the birdhouse wall or top portion, a rotation of the fastener 44 in the appropriate direction will cause the birdhouse to be tightly secured to its support. If desired, washers and nuts such as at 46 may be utilized in order to lock and position both the fastener 44 to a side support and the birdhouse to the fastener 44.

Referring now to FIG. 3, there is shown a modified birdhouse which, however, again has a top or roof portion as at 50 and a bottom or nesting box portion as at 52. In this case, the roof portion has the longitudinally extending side members 54 depending below the rim 56 of the lower portion thereof so that headed pins 58 may be thrust through appropriate aligned apertures in the depending member 54 and in the rim member 56 of the nesting box 52.

Thus it will be seen that in this case also the parts may be quickly and easily taken apart for cleaning purposes and whichever part 10 or 12 or 50 or 52 is the part that is fastened to a support, the other part is removable so that the interior of the birdhouse may be made available for cleaning. In any event, however, it is a very easy thing to take down the entire birdhouse simply by unscrewing it from its fastener 44.

Referring now to FIGS. 4 and 5, there is shown a still further modification where the top or roof portion 60 again has an overlapping portion 62 similar to that at 54 and this extends down over the rim at '64 of the lower portion 66 of the birdhouse. The headed fastener 68 which may be similar to that at 58 is used in the same manner to lock the parts in position. However, at the opposite edge, these parts may be hinged together as by a pin 70 passing through integral molded-on apertured hinge parts 72, 74. Here the parts are not necessarily completely disassembled for cleaning, but it is only necessary to remove pin 68 to open up the birdhouse for cleaning purposes.

It will be seen that this invention provides a birdhouse, shelter, feed box or nesting box or other similar nesting device which carries out all of the objects of the invention and particularly is easy to put up and take down and clean besides being vermin-proof, rot-proof, inexpensive, light weight, etc.

A further feature of the invention resides in the fact that a liner can be used in the lower or nest part of any of the forms of the structure, this liner to be removed with the old nest and detritus and thrown away. The liner can be made of flexible sheet or film or can be molded to fit if desired.

In some cases a light weight moldable material such as paper pulp can be used instead of plastic, and in such cases the entire device can be disposed of each year or season because of the cheapness of the material.

Having thus described my invention and the advantages thereof, I do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, otherwise than as set forth in the claims, but what I claim is:

l. A birdhouse formed of light weight, waterproof, heat insulating material and comprising two readily separable parts to permit access to the interior for cleaning purposes or the like, one part comprising a lower nesting box portion and the other comprising an upper roof portion of inverted V-shape, said upper and lower portions having cooperating tongue and groove members permitting one part to slide relative to the other, said roof portion having lateral portions extending beyond the lower box portion on opposite sides thereof, said upper roof portion having an end entrance opening therein.

2. A birdhouse as set forth in claim 1 having mounting means embedded therein comprising an internally screw threaded member open to the exterior for reception of a coacting externally threaded member adapted to be mounted on a supporting structure.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS D. 89,631 Daggett Apr. 18, 1933 2,260,017 Garthus Oct. 21, 1941 2,260,018 Garthus Oct. 21, 1941 2,531,737 Lyon Nov. 28, 1950 2,868,360 Donkin Jan. 13, 1959 2,887,987 Fitzgerald et a1. May 26, 1959 

1. A BIRDHOUSE FORMED OF LIGHT WEIGHT, WATERPROOF, HEAT INSULATING MATERIAL AND COMPRISING TWO READILY SEPARABLE PARTS TO PERMIT ACCESS TO THE INTERIOR FOR CLEANING PURPOSES OR THE LIKE, ONE PART COMPRISING A LOWER NESTING BOX PORTION AND THE OTHER COMPRISING AN UPPER ROOF PORTION OF INVERTED V-SHAPED, SAID UPPER AND LOWER PORTIONS HAVING COOPERATING TONGUE AND GROOVE MEMBERS PERMITTING ONE PART TO SLIDE RELATIVE TO THE OTHER, SAID ROOF PORTION HAVING LATERAL PORTIONS EXTENDING BEYOND THE LOWER BOX PORTION ON OPPOSITE SIDES THEREOF, SAID UPPER ROOF PORTION HAVING AN END ENTRANCE OPENING THEREIN. 